In the middle east, the fight for freedom is generic: To stand for the right to create and share freely is to risk the most extreme response. Bassel is now suffering that most extreme response. There are a thousand ways you can help the people of Syria. Here is one more... stand with this one free soul.

Lawrence Lessig

Professor, Harvard Law School

Bassel has devoted his career to the rich culture of Syria and to protecting that culture. His contributions to the open Internet and open culture internationally, and his research and creativity, have benefitted all of us. Without people like Bassel, the Internet wouldn't be the vibrant and open resource that many of us take for granted.

Joi Ito

Director, MIT Media Lab

Bassel's life and work represent the open source movement at its most generous and creative. Ending his imprisonment should be a priority for anyone concerned about openness, collaboration and intellectual freedom.

Ethan Zuckerman

Director, MIT Center for Civic Media

These freedoms and the Universal Declaration in which they are now enshrined serve as a beacon... for prisoners of conscience who still long for their freedom, such as Bassel Khartabil of Syria

John Kerry

US Secretary of State

Bassel is a valued Creative Commons volunteer, and a leader in open knowledge and free culture. In some countries, pursuing openness has become a dangerous political act. We support those who seek a world built around sharing and collaboration, and we continue to work towards our friend Bassel's immediate and safe return.

Ryan Merkley

CEO, Creative Commons

Syria has one of the lowest scores for Internet freedom in the world. It was under these circumstances that Bassel Khartabil had the courage to dream of a different reality. Bassel distinguished himself on the global stage as a passionate advocate for free knowledge in the Arab world, pushing for greater inclusion, translation and exchange of ideas.

Jimmy Wales

Founder, Wikipedia

Mozilla supports efforts to obtain the release of Bassel Khartabil.

Mitchell Baker

Executive Chair, Mozilla Corporation

Bassel Khartabil is a Syrian Wikipedian and a passionate advocate for free knowledge.

Wikipedia

the free encyclopedia

Technologists around the world look to Bassel as the best of our kind. He worked voluntarily and tirelessly on creating the tools and open culture that promises a better, wiser world for us all. His continuing imprisonment deprives us all. We call for his safety and his return to his family.

Danny O'Brien

Electronic Frontier Foundation

Mr. Khartabil’s contributions to Creative Commons have always inspired collaboration, community, and the sharing of culture and knowledge... his activism and involvement in the CC community and open internet community is deeply missed

On March 15, 2012, Bassel Khartabil was detained in a wave of arrests in the Mazzeh district of Damascus.
Until October 2015, he was being held at Adra Prison in Damascus by the Syrian government.
His current whereabouts are unknown.

Bassel Khartabil, a Palestinian-Syrian, 34, is a respected computer engineer specializing in open source software development, the type of contributions the Internet is built upon. He launched his career ten years ago in Syria, working as a technical director for a number of local companies on cultural projects like restoring Palmyra and Forward Syria Magazine.

Since then, Bassel has become known worldwide for his strong commitment to the open web, teaching others about technology, and contributing his experience freely to help the world. Bassel is the project leader for an open source web software called Aiki Framework. He is well known in online technical communities as a dedicated volunteer to major Internet projects like Creative Commons (www.creativecommons.org), Mozilla Firefox (www.mozilla.org), Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.org), Openclipart (www.openclipart.org), Fabricatorz (www.fabricatorz.com), and Sharism (www.sharism.org).

Since his arrest, Bassel’s valuable volunteer work, both in Syria and around the world, has been stopped. His absence has been painful for the communities that depend on him. In addition, his family, and his wife, have had their lives put on hold.

The United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has determined that Bassel’s arrest and imprisonment were arbitrary and in violation of international law, and has asked for his immediate release.